TWO mothers have accused Effingham Secondary School of violating their sons’ rights after the toilet facilities were allegedly locked, resulting in them soiling themselves.
The parents, who declined to be named, said the school’s “toilet policy” was “unfair” and that their children, aged 13 and 15, were struggling to get over their embarrassment.
Both parents claimed the “toilet policy” required the gate to the toilets to be locked during class hours because some of the pupils were allegedly smoking and “getting up to mischief” inside the facility.
They said the pupils were only allowed to use the toilets during their lunch breaks.
The mother of the 13-year-old said the school called her at 10.30am on the day of the incident, asking her to pick up her son because he was ill.
“We live near the school, so my daughter and I drove there to see what had happened. I sat in the car, while my daughter went to fetch her brother.
“When he got in the car, I immediately got a smell and asked him what happened. He was quiet and said he got sick in class.
“When we got home, I made him remove his clothing and sent him to shower. He was beside himself; just completely withdrawn. I could see he was embarrassed. He is already a shy and timid child. My son did not come out of his room that evening.
“I spoke to him to find out what happened. He said he was fine during the first lunch break. When he got to class after the break, he felt upset and told the teacher his stomach was sore and he wanted to leave the class to go to the toilet. She told him to go to the office.
“While he was on his way to the office, he soiled himself. He told the office staff that he was sick and they told him to wait outside. He then messed himself again.
“I asked him why he did not go to the toilet during the break or just leave the class to use the toilet.
“He said the toilets were always locked during class time because the boys smoked there. He said the lines during the break were too long because everyone needed to use the toilet during that time.”
She added: “For the principal to make that decision to lock the toilets because of a few unruly pupils is definitely not right. I get that children can be naughty, but forcing others to pay for the bad behaviour of a few is not right at all.”
The parent of the 15-year-old said her son was heartbroken when she got to school and found him in such a vulnerable condition.
“He was standing alone in the parking lot. I asked him what happened and he said the teacher took too long to give him ‘a pass’ and he soiled himself. I dropped him off at home and went back to the school to find out what happened. The principal was not there, so the secretary called the same teacher. She was adamant she did not take long to write the note. She kept saying she was also a mother and would not do that to him. I don’t know if she was telling the truth or not.
“When I got back home and spoke to my son, he was completely embarrassed. As a mother, knowing how mean children can be to each other, it was difficult knowing what he had to go back to and face. I had to pray about what I was going to say to him.”
She said fortunately her son was strong willed and was showing steady progress in terms of getting over the embarrassment since the incident two months ago.
“I was really angry because he is a quiet boy and I could see in his face he did not know how to deal with it. My husband and I told him it was okay and he would get over it. I also told him some of my embarrassing stories from school just to try to make him feel less uneasy about what had happened.
“I would not want this to ever happen to another child. What if they are going through something at home and this happens which pushes them over the edge? I am sure the school did not consider the mental impact this would have on our children.”
Vee Gani, chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal Parents Association, said that if in fact the school had locked the toilets during class hours, it would be a direct violation of the pupils’ rights.
“How do you monitor when each child wants to use the loo? That is impossible. School children are smoking all over KZN. You don’t see other schools doing this because it is wrong. Instead of locking the toilet, they should have placed a guard there to make sure no wrongdoing was taking place. That would have been a more suitable approach,” Ganie said.
A source, with close links to the school, claimed the “toilet policy” had been in place for some time.
“Locking the toilets and making pupils get a pass was put in place to curb the bad behaviour at the school. But this is a violation of the pupils’ rights. This issue has been debated before but the rule still exists,” said the source.
The principal declined to comment. The KZN Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal did not comment at the time of going to press.
The DA’s head of the education portfolio in KZN, Sakhile Mngadi, said he would investigate the allegations.
“Access to ablution facilities is a fundamental right. We will also engage social workers to avail counselling to the affected pupils and their families to ensure this incident does not impact their academic performance,” Mngadi said.
The POST